Camp Cartwheel in Nevada

Thanks to everyone at Camp Cartwheel at the Torino Ranch in Nevada for having me visit! I had a great afternoon visiting with campers and camp counselors, as well as getting the chance to participate in many activities. For more information about Camp Cartwheel, visit http://www.nvccf.org/camp.htm







During my travels to Nevada, I had the opportunity to meet the new Mrs. Nevada, Angela Phillips . I also stopped by for an interview at KPMZ Channel 41 on the 6 o'clock evening news and to tape a segment for the fall series of NightBeat.


Thank you to Victoria Broz, Mrs. Nevada 2006 for hosting a great time in Nevada!


Grapevine Radio Interview

Listen LIVE this Thursday,
August 9, 2007
“An Afternoon of Giving”

With Special Guest: Marney Duckworth, Mrs. America 2007, founder of Mrs. Colorado Foundation.

Listen live this Thursday,
August 9th at 3:00pm (MST)

www.grapevineradio.com

with hosts: Kristen Lamb-former Mrs. Utah, entrepreneur, wife, founder of The Foundation House and Andrea Preuss- former Mrs. United States, Mrs. America 2006, wife

Other Guests:
Tracie Stafford - Wife, entrepreneur, mother, Gov. Schwarzenegger appointee, Mrs. California
Lori Donaudy- Mrs. New York United States 2007, involved in 'Safe at Home’ Foundation

Fandies Candy Co. GRAND OPENING!

On Saturday, July 30 I traveled to Canon City for the Grand Opening of Debi Moore's (Mrs. Colorado 1994) brand new "Fandies Candy Company" candy store! I enjoyed greeting customers and signing autographs for the kids. If you're ever in Canon City you really should stop by for a visit and try some of her homemade fudge! She is open Tues-Sat. 10am-6pm.





Nebraska Rally for the Cure

Although, I won't divulge my "sub par" golf score (no pun intended), I will tell you that we had absolutely the best weather possible yesterday for the annual Rally for the Cure in Lincoln, Nebraska! After a beautiful morning of golf, we enjoyed a luncheon filled with great conversation and invaluable information about breast cancer and the efforts of the Susan G. Komen Foundation. I had the pleasure of speaking to the group of women golfers during the luncheon, sharing with them my connection with the Foundation and my experience as Mrs. America. Thanks to everyone at the Lincoln Chapter of Susan G. Komen for inviting me to golf and speak.

with Team "Queen"

with local golf pro


speaking at the luncheon

with event organizers

Nebraska KLIN Radio to promote Rally for the Cure

Mrs. Nebraska 2007, Michele Strom and I started the day early by visiting the KLIN morning show to talk about the Rally for the Cure Golf Tournament & Luncheon that we will be involved with tomorrow. In addition to raising money for the Susan G. Komen Foundation, the Rally for the Cure event will honor a number of local breast cancer survivors.

with Michele

with Jack and Ashlee of KLIN

Tough Enough to Wear Pink Fundraiser

I joined Lisa Henry, Mrs. Gunnison, for Gunnison's Cattlemen's Days "Tough Enough to Wear Pink" raising money for local breast cancer treatment through the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and local chapters of the Susan G. Komen Foundation. For more information please visit http://www.toughenoughtowearpink.com/who_benefits.html

Even the tough guys wore pink!

Lisa's prize-winning pig, Digger, couldn't take his snout off me!

Picture with the Miss Rodeo Queens from Gunnison.

Visiting Camp for Girls in Indiana

Thank you to Eileen Taylor (Mrs. Indiana State Director) and Danielle Vale (Mrs. Indiana 2007)for inviting me to visit some of the young campers during the summer activities at Cathedral High School in Indiana. Danielle and I spoke to the girls about individuality and imaging, by sharing stories from our childhoods, as well as stories from our year as titleholders. It was great to see Indiana and all that the city of Indianapolis has to offer!



Sherri Hill in L.A.

I had the opportunity to fly to Los Angeles on July 5 to meet with the amazing designer, Sherri Hill (center) in person to design my gown for Mrs. America! I'm also pictured above with Mrs. Nebraska, Michele Strom, who was able to come along too!!!

Pictured with Raeanne Duca (right) from the Royal Image Boutique (www.royalimageboutique.com) and Sherri Hill.

Looking through some of Sherri's beautiful gowns.

Mrs. Nebraska Pageant

I had a great time co-emceeing (with Rod Fowler of KLKN ABC Channel 8 in Lincoln) the 2007 Mrs. Nebraska Pageant this past weekend. And although it was emotional to see my dear friend Jennifer Bradley, Mrs. Nebraska 2006, give up her crown, it was exciting to see it go to Michele Strom of Omaha. Congrats Michele!

To kick off the pageant weekend, Jennifer and I stopped by both the 98.5 FM Morning Show with Pat and JT and KLKN Television studios for media.

We made a special visit to Children's Hospital in Omaha to visit a number of patients and their families. It was a wonderful way to spend our time together in Nebraska.

with Rod Fowler

with JT and Pat

at Children's Hospital

outside Billy's restaurant before finals

with Michele

Media at Mrs. New York




I'm having a great time at the Mrs. New York pageant! I've spent the past few mornings making media appearances with Lidia. It's been so much fun catching up with her! Tonight, contestants will compete in preliminaries, with finals set for tomorrow.







VFW State Convention

Today I attended the VFW Colorado State Convention held in Colorado Springs and had the privilege to address the audience as a guest speaker. I shared my experiences as a military spouse, an Auxiliary member of Post 3917, and my work for the Children of Fallen Soldiers' Relief Fund with many other vets and their families in attendance. Many posts joined us today from across the state and I was grateful to be able to thank our vets personally for their sacrifices. I'm pictured above with my friend Ken Vegoren from Post 3917 in Colorado Springs.

Our Jr. Girls Ladies Auxiliary Members.
Addressing the convention.



National Anthem Project Finale

I spent the better part of last week in Washington D. C., attending the final event of the National Anthem Project. Thursday's event at the Washington monument was a sight to see. From where I was standing (on stage with the Oakridge Boys), I experienced one of the most spectacular views...on the monument lawn stood over 5000 children from all over the United States singing the National Anthem. That very moment made every ounce of work put into the project worth it. I had the chance to catch up, even if only briefly, with other titleholders who were in attendance. I think we all signed over 1000 autographs that day!

On Friday, Mrs. Michigan 2007, Laura Loveberry, her husband Mark, my mother-in-law, Marcia and I had the pleasure of taking a private tour around town to many of the national monuments. At each stop, I spent time speaking to folks gathered, listening to the concerts taking place, and taking pictures with people from all of the country and world who were visiting our nation's capitol.

Friday evening, we attended the Marine Barracks Commandant's Reception and Sunset Parade. I had the opportunity to speak with Congressman Poe of Texas and others about the National Anthem Project. The parade was amazing!

I spent Saturday at the DCI Summer Music Season kick-off, presenting awards on the field, announcing the official "Let the 2007 Music Season Begin," and enjoying the show in the skybox with others.

with Dr. Mahlmann, MENC Executive Director

with David and Elaine

with Marines outside the barracks


with Marcia


with Patty (Mrs. Maryland '06), Laura (Mrs. Michigan '07), Danielle (Mrs. Indiana '07)


with Victoria (Mrs. Nevada '06), Christina (Mrs. New Jersey '06), and Patty

with Marcia


speaking about the National Anthem Project


at the WWII Memorial


Ft. Carson Army Birthday Ball

Since its establishment on June 14, 1775 the United States Army has played a vital role in the growth and development of our nation. I was proud to be a VIP guest at Ft. Carson's 232nd Army Birthday Ball. I'm pictured above with Major General Robert W. Mixon, Jr., the Commanding General of Division West at Ft. Carson.

Nathan and I enjoyed getting to know our Mayor of Colorado Springs, Lionel Rivera, and his lovely wife Lynn at the Army's birthday party.

Stadium Stampede

The Stadium Stampede is a community family event featuring a 5K run, a 5K walk, a 1K kids fun run, and the Huff & Puff 1K Challenge to raise money for the St. Joseph Hospital Foundation. The course for all events goes through the Denver Broncos' INVESCO Field at Mile High and participants can see themselves on Thundervision, the giant video screen. This is the beginning of the 1K kids fun run, and I gave all of our runners some words of encouragement over the loud speaker just before they took off.Pictured above with one of the volunteers who helped out tremendously during the Stadium Stampede.















Pictured with two happy little runners!














Pictured above with two of the huff and puffers that finished the race!

Ladies' Nite Out

I was honored to be a guest at the first annual Ladies Nite Out in Colorado Springs at the Sheraton Hotel on Thursday, June 14, 2007. Ladies Nite Out offers women an evening of discovery, learning, and just plain fun. Myself and many other ladies enjoyed a gala evening of entertainment, food, products and services especially geared for today's woman. I'm pictured above with Bobby from Sensational Sounds DJ Service.



Michiele Stapleton, Mrs. Colorado Springs 2007, also joined me in the fun. We're pictured with Corey from Sensational Sounds.

Corinne Wymann-Solano, President and Designer from Aleks Pret-a-Porter, Inc., asked me to wear one of her custom designed necklaces during the night to show off her work.

Corey from Sensational Sounds thought it might be fun to trade hats for a while! I decided I liked mine better and made him give it back :)

Media at Miss Nebraska Pageant

I joined Jennifer Bradley, Mrs. Nebraska 2006 at the Miss Nebraska Pageant on Saturday, June 9th. We met with local papers and television media to talk about our "Mrs" pageant experience and to promote upcoming events such as the final National Anthem Project celebration in D.C. and the 2007 Mrs. Nebraska Pageant June 30th.

Sunday, June 10th North Platte Telegraph article http://www.nptelegraph.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18454793&BRD=377&PAG=461&dept_id=602468&rfi=6
Tuesday, June 12th North Platte Telegraph article about the National Anthem Project


with Mrs. Nebraska group



with Ashley Bauer, Miss Nebraska 2007

Colorado State H.O.G. Rally


Each year the Harley Owners Group (H.O.G.) holds their state rally for their members to get together and have fun riding while showing off their bikes. As a Harley rider myself, I enjoyed handing out awards at their awards ceremony this past Saturday night in Colorado Springs. I'm pictured above with my bodyguards for the night, which would be my husband Nathan, and our friends Jerry and Sam.

Pictured above with Regional Manager, John Schmidt, from the Harley-Davidson Corporation.